I didn’t learn much from DU practice today. Much-needed junior wing Dustin Jackson and freshman center Nick Shore are still wearing orange “no-crush” jerseys, and coach George Gwozdecky didn’t have an injury update because he was in Toronto on Tuesday and hadn’t met with trainer Aaron Leu.

Jackson has missed the entire season because of mono and Shore hasn’t played since breaking his right wrist on opening night. Shore is still wearing a cast, but his older brother, Drew, said Nick was scheduled to see the doctor before this weekend’s series against visiting Minnesota State.

As for Friday’s starter between the pipes, Gwozdecky said he is “leaning towards” freshman Sam Brittain, who was pulled after allowing five goals in last Saturday’s 9-2 massacre at Colorado College.

DU’s George Gwozdecky was among six NCAA coaches that met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daily at the league’s Toronto headquarters on Tuesday.

The meeting, which Gwozdecky said included four NHL general managers, was about “the challenges we’re facing with the collective bargaining agreement coming up in (2011).”

In other words, it was primarily about keeping kids in school. The existing CBA that was established in 2005 allows for a player with four “accrued” seasons to become a free agent at age 27, four years earlier than the previous CBA. By lowering the age, NHL teams have signed their draft picks earlier, out of fear of losing them at age 27.

In the end, NHL-bound college players have been persuaded to sign pro deals long before they graduate. DU has lost 13 players early since 2005, including three last spring. Five Pioneers signed NHL deals after their sophomore years, beginning with Paul Stastny with the Avalanche in 2006.

Gwozdecky said early signings was just one of the topics.

“To be able to establish a dialogue with the NHL was a real positive step,” he said Wednesday from DU. “This wasn’t a problem-solving meeting. It was a real good opportunity to be able to establish some relationships and start a dialogue so perhaps when the NHL and NHLPA get together and start talking about the new collective bargaining agreement, college hockey can be a part of that mix.”

Gwozdecky was joined by Minnesota coach Don Lucia, Miami’s Rico Blasi, Jack Parker of Boston University, Michigan’s Red Berenson and Ted Donato of Harvard. A second meeting is planned, but has yet to be scheduled, Gwozdecky said.

LEAVING EARLY

The following DU players left school early for NHL or major-junior deals:

This morning after the Buffs’ practice, offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, who has the only two-year contract of the CU assistants, was asked if he plans on being back next year. He his answer was a short “yes.”

Kiesau said he has talked to CU athletic director Mike Bohn, but didn’t elaborate on the conversation. Kiesau said the rest of the season will be interesting.

“This is different,” he told reporters. “I’ve never been through this before (not having a head coach at practice).”

Kudos to the Rocky Mountain RoughRiders under-16 squad that went 7-0 last weekend to win the U16 triple-A division of the Bauer International Invite in Chicago.

The second-year RoughRiders, who are one of Colorado’s four triple-A organizations, produced their best national tournament result in the Windy City. They outscored their opponents 41-5 en route to improving to 18-4 on the season.

“We opened a few eyes,” Rocky Mountain coach John Paris Jr. said.

Rocky Mountain beat the Tampa Bay Alliance 6-0 in the “triple-A” championship game. Detroit Honeybaked won the U16 “elite” division. Paris, a longtime youth and professional-level coach, said the divisions were equally seeded for the most part.

The U16 Colorado Thunderbirds, the defending USA Hockey national champions, did not participate in Chicago and has yet to play the RoughRiders. The teams are scheduled to meet Jan. 29 at Big Bear Ice Arena in Aurora.

“We’re looking forward to that,” Paris said. “What we did in Chicago is going to make the whole state of Colorado benefit. Now you know there is more than the Thunderbirds out there.”

The RoughRiders field U18, U16, U15 and U14 teams and play out of the Ice Centre at the Promenade in Westminster. They used to be called Team Rocky Mountain, but became the “Rocky Mountain RoughRiders” this season after becoming an “affiliate AA program” of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League. The USHL is North America’s top junior-A league, and where most of college hockey’s top programs recruit.

BOULDER – Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano has an idea of the kind of coach he’d like the university to hire next, but will step aside and leave the details of conducting a search to athletic director Mike Bohn.

It doesn’t mean DiStefano won’t be one of a few CU officials Bohn needs to sign off on the new coach, just that he’ll be as little a part of the process as possible. DiStefano, however, did say he’d like to see a coach with big school experience. Dan Hawkins, who was fired on Tuesday, came from Boise State, which plays its games in the Western Athletic Conference.

Speaking on a teleconference with local media, DiStefano said he’d like to see “a coach who is either successful now as a head coach or has recent coaching experience either with someone from the Pac 12 or the Big 12. Somebody in a conference similar to, if not equal to, the conference that we’re joining.”

Colorado drew some criticism with the way it conducted its last coach search, which featured the use of consultant Chuck Neinas. DiStefano said he wasn’t sure if the Buffs athletic department would go that route again, and would let Bohn make that decision.

“I’m going to leave that up to Mike,” DiStefano said. “We’ve had a brief conversation. The difference between this time around with Dan Hawkins and prior with Gary Barnett is that we started very late in the season looking for a coach. We now have a bit more time on our hands to do a better job of due diligence.”

Meanwhile, Bohn said he’s already gotten some interest in the position from outside of the CU family. Still, former CU coach Bill McCartney and current interim coach Brian Cabral have both also thrown their hats into the ring.

“We’ve had a lot of interest already and a lot of intrigue,” Bohn said. “But right now we’re focused on doing everything we can to ensure that we have all of our issues resolved with coach Hawkins first.”

Bohn said there is no timetable for having a new coach in place.

The move to the Pac 12 should work in Colorado’s favor because facilities and salaries are similar to what CU has, DiStefano said.

“I think going to the Pac 12 is actually going to help us,” DiStefano said. “The limited financial resources we have, we’re more similar to the teams in the Pac 12 than in the Big 12. I think we’ll fare well in the Pac 12, but we’ll probably have to look at some upgrades in facilities. And I don’t know what those are and I’ll certainly leave those up to Mike to work with, but I think that will be a priority for a new coach coming in.”